ANOTHER OIL MAN AGAINST CAP-AND-TRADE?

Carbon trade wrong, says Lord Browne
Tim Webb and Terry Macalister, 8 March 2009 (UK Guardian)

"Lord Browne, the former chief executive of BP and one of the earliest proponents of carbon trading to tackle climate change, has conceded his enthusiasm was misplaced…

"[Lord Browne:] "My view has shifted over time. Pinning all your hopes on the European Union ETS [emissions trading scheme] and carbon trading is wrong."

"Until recently, energy companies and governments all around the world - particularly Britain's - argued that carbon trading was the best way of reducing global emissions. Under the EU scheme - the first of its kind in the world - companies are awarded carbon credits. If they pollute more than their allocation allows, they have to buy extra credits on the market."

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"But the scheme has been dogged by controversy. In the first phase, starting in 2005, companies were given too many credits, allowing them to bank billions of pounds of credits without having to clean up their act. Now, the price of carbon is so low that it provides little incentive for companies to cut their emissions. In the next phase, companies will have to buy more of their credits, rather than receive them all for free.

"In the late 1990s, Browne started BP's internal carbon trading scheme and executives helped the British government design its own experimental scheme, which predated that of the EU.

"Browne said last week that carbon trading could play a part, but only alongside legislation and government targets…"